FA decides chief executive's messages are exempt from its anti-discrimination
regulations amid claims his comments show football is "removed from
contemporary society"

Richard Scudamore on Monday night escaped Football Association disciplinary action over his sexist emails because they were not intended for public consumption.

The FA determined that a case against the Premier League chief executive could not be opened over correspondence leaked by a former PA, despite a growing clamour for him to be censured.

Scudamore’s comments were likened on Monday to the racist remarks that saw disgraced LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling banned for life from the NBA, but the FA deemed them to be exempt from its anti-discrimination regulations.

John Terry, Luis Suárez and Nicolas Anelka have all infamously fallen foul of those rules, with Scudamore’s emails mocking “female irrationality” risking the same.

The FA’s official handbook makes no specific differentiation between public and private discriminatory behaviour, although precedents do exist where individuals have avoided censure upon the latter being exposed.

Greg Dyke, the FA chairman whose radical plans to reform English football are opposed by Scudamore, issued a statement yesterday saying the 54-year-old’s comments were a “matter for the Premier League”, stopping short of condemning them.

He said: “We note the reported comments of Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore at the weekend, and his subsequent apology. This remains a matter for the Premier League to consider.

“The FA remains wholly committed to promoting diversity and will continue to work on challenging discrimination and developing future women leaders.” Scudamore could yet face internal disciplinary action, with the Premier League’s own code of conduct making clear it does not tolerate discrimination.

His comments emerged less than a fortnight after the new NBA commissioner, Adam Silver, was widely applauded for banning Clippers owner Sterling for life for asking a woman not to associate in public with black people.

Former basketball star John Amaechi said of Scudamore: “He has pulled a Donald Sterling but he will get away with it.” Speaking to the BBC, he added: “The Premier League and football has been out of touch for a long time. I don’t call them dinosaurs by accident – they are removed from contemporary society.

“Richard Scudamore has shown himself to fit in perfectly in football. He will have to say a lot worse things about women in order to be removed.”

The calls for Scudamore to be formally censured under football’s anti-discrimination rules were led by a member of the FA’s own Inclusion Advisory Board, who wrote open letters to the governing body’s chairman and the Premier League demanding “appropriate disciplinary action”.

Edward Lord, a leading equality campaigner who is also chairman of the London FA Inclusion Advisory Group, branded Scudamore’s leaked emails “inappropriate and discriminatory”.

Lord claimed Scudamore’s comments breached FA and Premier League rules and that he would have “a case to answer” if charged by the former or disciplined by the latter.

The FA set up a new Inclusion Advisory Board at the end of last year under the chairmanship of non-executive director Heather Rabbatts, with Lord appointed as a member.

Writing to both Dyke and the Premier League chairman Anthony Fry – current incapacitated – Lord cited both organisations’ rules on discrimination.

He added: “As a member of the FA’s Inclusion Advisory Board, charged with verifying and monitoring the delivery of English Football’s Inclusion and Anti-Discrimination Action Plan, I would like to ask you both what steps the FA and Premier League intend to take:

1. To ensure appropriate disciplinary action is taken regarding Richard’s inappropriate and discriminatory remarks; and 2. To assure women in football that Richard’s comments do not represent institutional sexism within the game and to demonstrate that women are welcome at every level of football, from the dressing room to the boardroom.

“I look forward to hearing from you and would, of course, be happy to meet if you would find that to be helpful.” Lord’s letter followed an earlier blog post in which he made it clear he was writing in a “personal capacity”.

He said: “It will be a test of the Football Association’s strength as a regulator to see if it has the courage to take steps against a figure as significant as Richard Scudamore.”

Scudamore has no plans to review his position or step down but Lord claimed he should not escape formal censure simply because he is “arguably English football’s most powerful leader”.

Lord added: “Others in football, most notably players and coaches, have faced FA charges of bringing the game into disrepute by making discriminatory comments.”

Citing the text of the FA’s Rule E3, he wrote: “On a plain reading of those rules, there must surely be a case to answer, making Scudamore potentially liable to a charge of improper conduct, aggravated by the clearly discriminatory nature of his comments.

“Whether a charge is raised or not, some action must be taken to demonstrate that women are welcome in football, on the field of play, as coaches and officials, and in the leadership of clubs, leagues, and the FA.”